Recommendation for a Router for VPN Using OpenVPN

[Royi]

Hello,
I want to connect to VPN and figured out the best thing would be connecting the Router to a VPN.

I'm looking for a recommendation on a router with the following requirements:

• Supports OpenVPN (Should I ask for DD-WRT?).
• Can handle 100 Mbit Internet Connection without slowing down the connection due to encryption (I know things will be slower due to the VPN provider, I don't want the Router to be a bottleneck).
  Update: Treat this as "best effort", namely which router within the budget will be able to handle the highest bandwidth.
• Can handle 4 wired clients + 5 wireless clients.
  One of the wired clients will be a Home NAS (Streaming and File Access).
• Stable (No need for restarts, etc...).
• Budget ~250 USD.
• Good wireless range (I care less about speed, care more about the quality and range of the connection).

I'd be happy to have some recommendations.

Thank You.

 

[CaptainSTX]

No SOHO router has a fast enough processor for your 100Mbps VPN through put requirementon. Consensus / speculation on this forum seems to be that you will need at least a device with a 2.4 Ghz processor. Best option would be to build a Pfsense box using a fast processor. If you can repurpose a PC that you already have then you can do it for your budget. If you decide to buy a mini PC /router then you will need $350 or more.

Some VPN providers have sufficent backbone to hand a 100 Mbps VPN. Your router will be the bottleneck.

With an ASUS AC1900 1.4 Ghz processor the best I can get is 55 Mbps. Using a PC with a much faster process I can get 170 Mbps.

 

[Royi]

I will take 60 Mbps as well.
Any recommendations?

 

[joegreat]

I will take 60 Mbps as well.
Any recommendations?

With typical ARM CPUs in routers you get via OpenVPN ~40 Mbit down speed and ~5 Mbit upwards - overclocking the CPU might help a bit but you will not get near to 60 Mbit. Discussed many times in the forum - a small search would give you instant results...

Keep in mind that the hardware in the routers is not build for CPU intense processing - if you like to have full speed you need to go for a separate VPN solution with an Intel CPU inside!

I would always go for an Asus router with Merlin's fork as firmware - has OpenVPN included and many more goodies!

My setup below is something I would always go for: OpenVPN runs like a charm on it and performance is still good enough for most purposes - plus the AC87U is quite cheap...

 

[Royi]

So you can think rephrase it as what will be able to provide the highest bandwidth.

The LinkSys WRT3200ACM seems to have Dual 1.8 GHz CPU.
How much will it provide?
Anything in the above budget will be able to handle more traffic?

 

[thiggins]

Please note that consumer Wi-Fi routers that support OpenVPN do not support site-to-site tunnels with factory firmware.

As others have pointed out, consumer routers will not provide anywhere near 100 Mbps tunnel throughput. Depending on the router processor and tunnel encryption used, you'll get 20 - 50 Mbps.

 

[Royi]

So give me recommendation for the best ones (As I wrote, I understand I need to install DD-WRT) with price up to ~250$.

I understand there us a limitation to speed.
So ignore the numbers, just which one will be the fastest and most stable within budget?

Thank You.

 

[joegreat]

So ignore the numbers, just which one will be the fastest and most stable within budget?

I gave you my suggestion already here - not seen?
Suggestion is in budget, fast (enough?) and has additional values...

 

[Royi]

Hi,
I saw your suggestion, thank you for that.

Do you think it would be better than the LinkSys I mentioned above?

Thank You.

 

[CaptainSTX]

I will take 60 Mbps as well.
Any recommendations?

As I said I get 55 - 65 usi

Hi,
I saw your suggestion, thank you for that.

Do you think it would be better than the LinkSys I mentioned above?

Thank You.

Many people on this site are dyed in the wool ASUS fans using Merlin's tweaked firmware because the combination and has many features including a VPN implementation that works well. I have been running an open VPN on an AC1900P and it has been working without a network drop, VPN crash for six weeks.

You need to find someone that has been running a VPN on the Linksys model you are considering and also has an ISP connection that runs in excess of 100Mbps to get a definitive answer to your question. Be sure whomever comments has a fast Inernet connection as it may have an impact on their response. When I doubled the speed of my connection from my ISP my VPN got slightly slower as the router just could not keep up. The purchase of the AC1900 was an attempt to regain it.

 

[dr_lucas]

I am on a 200/80 fiber connection using the Linksys WRT3200ACM and getting ~100/80 on a locally located VPN server, using OpenVPN. Through the WIN10 computer, using the dedicated client and OpenVPN I am getting 150/80
You may also want to check these out:
https://embeddor.com/product/apu-kit/#board
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B012KJFXL4/?tag=snbforums-20
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D7UK6OE/?tag=snbforums-20
http://www.mitxpc.com/products.php?cat=10

 

[dr_lucas]

Today, after updating to the latest DD-WRT firmware, I am getting ~120Mbit/80Mbit using OpenVPN on the WRT3200ACM

P.S. Connecting using 200/80 fiber from Thailand to a VPN in Singapore.

 

[McGreggor]

Today, after updating to the latest DD-WRT firmware, I am getting ~120Mbit/80Mbit using OpenVPN on the WRT3200ACM

P.S. Connecting using 200/80 fiber from Thailand to a VPN in Singapore.

Is this router any good ? I need a reliable one for my 60 Mbps/10Mbps fibre connection as of now I get a crap 10 Mbps/ 8Mbps and during download around 1Mb like not less with multiple disconnections during the day. How many devices do you have connected to your router ?

 

[dr_lucas]

Is this router any good ? I need a reliable one for my 60 Mbps/10Mbps fibre connection as of now I get a crap 10 Mbps/ 8Mbps and during download around 1Mb like not less with multiple disconnections during the day. How many devices do you have connected to your router ?

Which router and which firmware do you currently use?
Are you talking about standard WAN connection speeds you get or OpenVPN?

 

[Tom Jo-Jo Junior Shabadoo]

Today, after updating to the latest DD-WRT firmware, I am getting ~120Mbit/80Mbit using OpenVPN on the WRT3200ACM

P.S. Connecting using 200/80 fiber from Thailand to a VPN in Singapore.

Hi,
What DD-WRT firmware version are you on? My friend has trouble getting these speeds (using cipher AES-256-CBC).

/Tom

 

[joegreat]

I'm looking for a recommendation on a router with the following requirements:

• Supports OpenVPN (Should I ask for DD-WRT?).
• Can handle 100 Mbit Internet Connection without slowing down the connection due to encryption (I know things will be slower due to the VPN provider, I don't want the Router to be a bottleneck).
  Update: Treat this as "best effort", namely which router within the budget will be able to handle the highest bandwidth.
• Can handle 4 wired clients + 5 wireless clients.
  One of the wired clients will be a Home NAS (Streaming and File Access).
• Stable (No need for restarts, etc...).
• Budget ~250 USD.
• Good wireless range (I care less about speed, care more about the quality and range of the connection).

Have look on this thread: OpenVPN performance of the RT-AC86U
In budget and high throughput in OpenVPN due to CPU hardware acceleration and you get Merlin's firmware on it for best performance and solution!

 

[dr_lucas]

Hi,
What DD-WRT firmware version are you on? My friend has trouble getting these speeds (using cipher AES-256-CBC).

/Tom

I am using this one:
ftp://ftp.dd-wrt.com/betas/2017/10-10-2017-r33492/linksys-wrt3200acm/

Although I just saw there is a new one just released.

 

[dr_lucas]

Have look on this thread: OpenVPN performance of the RT-AC86U
In budget and high throughput in OpenVPN due to CPU hardware acceleration and you get Merlin's firmware on it for best performance and solution!

Wow! This looks awesome!!

 

[ThatITGuy]

Forgive the ignorance, but I am guessing that the ASUS Router needs to be in "router" mode to be able to provide this functionality? I currently have the RT-N66U, but I have it acting as an AP behind my wired router. I have been curious to dabble with VPNs

 

[RMerlin]

Forgive the ignorance, but I am guessing that the ASUS Router needs to be in "router" mode to be able to provide this functionality?

Yes.